Gregory S. Berns

Distinguished Chair of Neuroeconomics and Director of the Center for Neuropolicy

Professor in:
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine
Economics Department, Emory University
Goizueta Business School, Emory University

Ph.D. University of California, Davis, 1990
M.D.  University of California, San Diego, 1994

 


Research Interests

Our lab studies the relationship of neural systems to decision-making by using a combination of computational and functional imaging techniques. The approach is called Neuroeconomics.  We are particularly interested in the role of the basal ganglia in processing novelty and reward and how this region guides decision-making. Current studies are focused on risky decision making and the neural effects of social messages, the neurobiology of adolescent risk-taking, and neurobiological mechanisms of political conflict.

We use functional imaging techniques, such as fMRI, to probe the function of specific cortico-striatal circuits that we think are involved in motivation.  By designing behavioral tasks that manipulate the relative novelty and uncertainty of the information being presented, we are able to probe these circuits in a targeted manner.  By using subtle manipulations in the behavioral task, subjects are frequently unaware of their presence, and we are able to measure subconscious brain processes.  The circuits that respond to subconscious information changes are also those circuits most commonly implicated in mood and substance use disorders.

Iconoclast

A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently (Harvard Business Press, 2008)

Named by Fast Company as one of the 10 best business books of 2008.

800-CEO-READ Business Book Award in Innovation & Creativity for 2008.

 

 

 

Recent Publications (click here for full online list)

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Gregory S. Berns, MD, PhD
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Emory University School of Medicine
101 Woodruff Circle., Suite 4000
Atlanta, GA 30322
Phone: (404) 727-2556
Fax: (404) 727-3233
Email: gberns (at) emory (dot) edu

Media Requests: Please contact Kathi Baker at 404-727-9371 or kobaker@emory.edu